Luke left, and the force was no longer with the Detroit Red Wings.
Suffering a damaged right hand and thumb in an altercation along the boards late in the third period of Game 4 of the best-of-seven opening-round Stanley Cup series between the Wings and Tampa Bay Lightning, a scrum that led to penalties to center Luke Glendening of the Wings and Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman, it immediately became apparent that all was not right with Glendening when he retired to the dressing room while linemate Landon Ferraro served his minor penalty.
Just how badly hurt Glendening might be hurt was not readily apparent, but how badly the Wings ailed without him was immediately known.
Tyler Johnson’s line – the unit Glendening and linemates Drew Miller and Ferraro had checked to a standstill for the second straight game – suddenly burst into prominence, scoring three times in a span of 7:51, Johnson’s winner 2:25 in overtime completing a 3-2 victory Thursday at Joe Louis Arena and a rally from a 2-0 third-period deficit.
“He’s an offensively dynamite player,… Glendening said of Johnson. “He sees the ice so well. He’s got unbelievable speed and he’s tenacious on the puck.
“You have to take care of him and limit his chances.…
Glendening and his line were doing that and the Wings were just 7:28 away from a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, but now it heads back to Tampa Bay for Game 5 Saturday all even at 2-2 and with Detroit reeling and uncertain.
“Obviously it was big play in the game,… Detroit coach Mike Babcock said of Glendening’s injury. “I really thought we should be going on the power play there but I can’t control those things.
“Obviously getting his hand cut and missing the rest of the game matchup-wise, Johnson’s line got the next three goals.…
Pavel Datsyuk’s unit with Darren Helm and Tomas Tatar were victimized for all three goals scored by the Johnson line.
“It’s frustrating,… Glendening said. “I thought we played a good game.
“In the end we came up short. That’s part of being in the playoffs. That’s going to happen.
“We have to come back and have a good game Saturday.…
Whether this will prove a bump in the road for the Wings or a turning point in the series might hinge of the health of Glendening’s right thumb, which was bloody and bandaged after the game and looked to be in rough shape.
“I’ll be fine,… Glendening said. “Nothing too serious. It’s good.…
Babcock also believed he’d have his checking center back in the saddle for Game 5, though he was less certain of it than Glendening.
“We think he’s OK,… Babcock said. “Just like all injuries in playoffs, you really don’t know until game time but the doc says they sewed him up and he’s going to be fine.…
Gus On The Board Forgotten in the late-game collapse was the fact that Detroit right-winger Gustav Nyquist ended a personal 12-game goalless drought in the playoffs when he opened the scoring with a tap in off a Henrik Zetterberg feed 5:42 into the second period.
“It was unbelievable pass, a great play by him,… Nyquist said. “I just put my stick on it and it gave us momentum.…
Momentum that was sapped away by the late-game collapse.
“Well I mean, you’ve just got to forget about it,… Nyquist said. “We’re going down there, looking forward to playing down there and getting ready for the next game.…
Pointing to their 3-2 Game 1 win built around a 44-save performance from goalie Petr Mrazek, Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall felt the series was probably where it should be at following four games.
“We stole Game 1, and they found a way to get this one,… Kronwall said. “We feel pretty good about how we played tonight.
“There's stuff we want to clean up and get better at, but overall, I thought it was a pretty good game.…
The last thing the Wings can afford to do at this point is feel sorry for themselves.
“That’s the NHL playoffs,… Miller said. “You don’t think that way. You don’t worry about, ‘Oh man, poor us.’
“You just get ready for the next game.…
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